Promises (Book One of The Syrenka Series) (17 page)

“
Aye…cat got yer tongue
young maidens?” The accent sounded Scottish and it was somewhat
difficult to understand. He laughed and twirled around the pond,
reminding me of those captive dolphin shows humans get such a kick
out of. Although he never added color to his appearance like the
naiad had done, I could see the outline of a hat and jacket on the
body of this water sprite. At least I had decided that he must be a
water sprite.

“
There ye go lassie. I am,
indeed, a water sprite.” Apparently he could hear my thoughts too.
In an instant, his face was abruptly next to mine and I could feel
the cool moisture of his aquatic body dripping in front of me.
“Abhainn is ma name ‘n I am here to serve ye.”

I couldn’t help but hear the
underlying anger in his words and it instantly put me on alert.
“It’s nice to meet you Abhainn. I am Eviana and this is Carissa and
Kain,” I said pointing my thumb towards the silent mermaids beside
me. Apparently they had not ever seen a water sprite before. “Why
would you be taking care of us?” I asked, trying not to sound too
ignorant or rude.

Abhainn tilted his head to the side
like a vulture and continued to stare at me, probably probing my
head to see if I was being sincere with my line of questioning.
“Why, that is the way things are, my maiden.” When I looked at him
in confusion, he straightened up, crossed his arms over his chest
and continued. “My master keeps me here to invite in the welcomed
guests ‘n chase those away who mean harm.”

He had stunned us all into silence
with that explanation. “Do you mean to say that you are trapped
here? In this fountain?” Carissa asked with such sincerity in her
tone that I turned to look at her in astonishment.

“
Aye,” Abhainn replied
curtly and nodded towards the house. “
He
captured me years ago ‘n now I
live here,” he spread his arms out wide as a wicked grin appeared
on his liquid face, “in this beautiful concrete prison.” Abhainn
laughed again, this time sending chills down my spine.

Turning to face Kain on my right, I
whispered, “What has Jeremiah done?”

“
I don’t know,” he murmured
back. “Let’s go find out.”

We turned to walk to the front door,
all the while hearing Abhainn swirl around his small watery home in
what must have been frustration and resentment. I had never heard
any stories about water sprites being captured before and I didn’t
even know that they still existed. Yet here it was, in less than a
month I had met two. One who was petrified of me and one who had
been trapped by a merman. I didn’t know exactly what was going to
happen next, but I had a feeling that we were going to leave here
with a different view of our kind.

A human servant met us at the door and
without saying a word, ushered us inside. The house was immaculate
with high open ceilings and dark hardwood floors. It smelled of
vanilla and something else that I couldn’t quite place. We didn’t
have a chance to notice much more of the architecture since the
human man moved through the house without slowing down. We were
walking to the back of the living space and I could see that the
hallway opened up at the end of our path. Sure enough, the thick
humid air hit us like a wall the moment we stepped through the
arched entryway into an atrium of sorts. In front of us was a
large, rectangular indoor swimming pool complete with rock
boulders, waterfalls, and colorful lighting. Around the perimeter
sat at least a dozen people with another ten or more standing at
attention in various parts of the room.

It took me a moment to realize that
something was off with this picture. Every person seemed to be in
some kind of trance, or at least that would be the best way to
describe it. They had made little movement when we arrived and I
was now even more leery of the merman that we were here to meet. An
exotic music mix of drumming and chanting filled the background and
I belatedly noticed that the pool lights seemed to change colors in
sync with the beat of the song.

Our human escort walked to the far end
of the pool and bent down next to the edge like he was searching
for something in the water. The three of us stood absolutely still
at the entrance not knowing what was coming next.

A rustling in the corner closest to us
briefly drew my eyes to the side. There, a man around thirty years
old, sat on a small wooden stool and stared intently at me. His
short black hair was cropped close to his head like a soldier and
his dark body glistened with moisture that clung to him like a
second skin. Something about him immediately felt familiar and when
I caught his scent, my heart nearly stopped beating. It took an
immense amount of control not to alert my companions that I had
just recognized another selkie.

Considering that we had been attacked
only a few nights ago, my first reaction to seeing him in a
merman’s home was one of fear. Was he being controlled too? Was he
one of the seals that had attacked us? An almost unnoticeable smile
threatened to escape his lips, but it wasn’t malevolent or
threatening. He simply seemed to be greeting me without attracting
any attention.

“
Well, well. My long lost
cousin returns at last.” I thought it was a disembodied voice until
I stepped to the side of Kain to see the merman swimming in the
pool. Jeremiah Williams had to be at least fifty years old by now,
but he didn’t look a day over twenty. His long blonde hair hung
freely around face, clinging to his wet neck and carelessly flowing
around his shoulders in the water. The strong jaw line and chiseled
muscles made him way more beautiful than any man should ever be. It
was easy to see why he had succeeded in Hollywood, and it was
equally easy to see that he made no attempt to appease anyone but
himself.

“
Kain, you’ve let me down.”
Jeremiah swam over to the edge of the pool and crossed his
perfectly toned arms on the edge while shaking his head in disgust.
“Look at you! You have the face of an ancient.”

“
Some of us can’t be a
playboy all of the time. I have many responsibilities now,” Kain
replied through gritted teeth. Jeremiah just waved his hand at
him.

“
Nonsense. You have people
helping you. Just tell them to take better care of you. We aren’t
going to stay young forever.” His smile creeped me out and I wanted
to make a comment about his age, but when I made a small move to
step forward, Kain discretely shook his head.

“
You have no idea what I
face now, Jeremiah,” Kain said slowly.

“
No?” The merman kicked his
tail and pulled himself up on the edge of the pool. Immediately,
three female servants ran to his side. One had a towel that she
used to gently blot the water droplets off his muscular chest and
stomach. The other was carrying an ornate glass pitcher and she
quickly began dipping it in the pool and pouring the contents over
the iridescent tail of the merman. Keeping that area wet would
allow him to maintain his half human, half fish form for a little
longer. The last servant passed a gold goblet to Jeremiah and he
took a long sip of its contents before continuing. It was clear
that he was putting on a show, and I didn’t think it was only for
our benefit. Jeremiah liked to perform. “Well, do enlighten me
cousin. What is going on that I don’t know about?”

Kain sucked in a breath and the next
four words he spoke not only changed the entire atmosphere but also
promised to have a profound impact on our lives. “We are at
war.”

Thirteen

“
What?” Carissa, Jeremiah,
and I asked in unison. It was hard to comprehend exactly what Kain
meant, especially considering that what he was saying was
completely outrageous. There hadn’t been a war amongst the merfolk
in over a thousand years, and even then that uprising had been
squashed relatively quickly and quietly. I couldn’t remember what
it had been about exactly, but whatever it was, the Council had
resolved the matter. Ignoring Carissa and I, Kain took a step
closer to his distant relative and addressed him
directly.

“
The Sutherland Clan has
declared war on those who will not side with their views to follow
The Legacy.”

Jeremiah relaxed his shoulders
slightly and shrugged. “Oh they’ve been threatening to do that for
years. I’m sure that this is just another political ploy and scare
tactic.” The gorgeous merman touched each of the girls one at a
time on the shoulder and they promptly returned to their positions
along the wall. He really didn’t seem too concerned with Kain’s
declaration.

“
They have already attacked
us both here and at home.” My head whipped over to look at Kain as
I stepped up beside him.

“
They’ve been to our home?
What happened? Why didn’t you tell me?” I was frantic and paranoid
that something terrible had happened to our families since I’d been
gone.

“
It is not your home
anymore, Eviana,” Kain snapped at me. It was a slap in the face
which only felt worse because there was an audience watching our
every move. I knew that I had left my home behind but it didn’t
mean that I’d stopped caring for everyone there. If something bad
had happened, I needed to know.

“
Ah,” cooed Jeremiah. “So
you’re the runaway bride.” He looked me up and down, assessing
every part of my body which was easy to do since I had jumped to
attention when he recognized me. In the distant corner, I heard the
selkie shift on his chair again as though this news was important
to him too. Jeremiah slowly shook his head from side to side and
made a sucking sound with his mouth. “You shouldn’t have let her
get away from you, Kain. She would have been perfect.”

I expected Kain to set him straight,
and when he didn’t, I nearly jumped in to explain that it wasn’t
Kain’s fault. However, he spoke up before I had a chance.
“Jeremiah, they have killed two leaders and are using selkies to do
their dirty work. Eviana was attacked just up the coast the other
night by three of them. Do you know anything about this?” His tone
was brutal. This wasn’t a question; this was an
accusation.

“
Don’t you dare!”
Jeremiah’s tail had transformed back into legs and he pushed
himself to standing so that he was eye to eye with his clan leader.
“Are you questioning my loyalty, Kain?”

“
Do I have a reason
to?”

Jeremiah threw his head back and
laughed. “Of course you do! Our family shunned me from their world
because I refused to stop using my gifts. In fact, following The
Legacy wouldn’t be such a bad idea.” He ran his hands through his
hair and smiled. “We are a superior race and we would have
continued to rule had the Council not decided to ban the practice
of Legacy. Look around this room! Humans and shifters and water
sprites are at our mercy. We can control them, so why should we
not?”

Kain quickly grabbed Jeremiah by the
shoulders and pulled him close enough for a kiss. Through clenched
teeth and a shaky voice, Kain ask him the most important question
yet. “Are you involved with this, Jeremiah?”

The room was silent with not even a
breath being shared amongst each other. We all knew that Jeremiah’s
answer could change the course of action for the rest of the
meeting and right now, Kain seemed determined to do whatever he
could to protect his people. Seemingly unaffected by Kain’s
outburst, Jeremiah looked at his cousin’s hands on his arms and
then arched an eyebrow in his direction. Kain interpreted the
meaning and stepped away slightly.

“
No. I am not involved in
this war.” Jeremiah held out his arms to the side and another
female servant rushed over to wrap a sarong around his waist. The
dark red material contrasted greatly with the nude color wraps
everyone else in the room was wearing. Looking around for the first
time, I really noticed that all of Jeremiah’s guests or servants
were wearing what looked like ancient Greek clothing. The women
wore dresses that seemed to wrap around only the modest parts of
their body, exposing the skin on their stomach, arms, and legs. The
men were wearing togas, again draped distinctly to show copious
amounts of bare skin without compromising their dignity. Jeremiah
had created his own little empire here.

“
Please, come with me,” he
continued and waved us over to the corner of the swimming pool area
where a simple wooden table and chairs was hiding. Jeremiah took
the end seat at the head of the table, while the three of us
gathered along the side. Once again, he was instantly surrounding
by the awaiting servants carrying trays of fruit and drinks for all
of us. He never said a word to them, and that continued to bother
me as I tried to figure out how it was possible. “Cousin, tell me
what you know.”

“
We think that the
Sutherland Clan has formed a sort of coalition with a few other
families both here and in Europe. They want to step out of the
shadows and claim their birthright as the ruler of humans and they
are willing to take their war public. The Council has been working
diligently for the past few months to negotiate terms with the
clans and to keep the casualties out of the media spotlight.” I
just sat and stared at my childhood friend. I had no idea this was
going on around me and although I was angry at myself for being so
ignorant, I was also angry at Kain and my mother for not
enlightening me. Perhaps if I would have known the gravity of the
situation, I would have made a different choice for my future.
Perhaps.